Late Season Muzzlelaoder Mule Deer Hunt

[jovanostu]

That’s mine that I got last Monday. It’s back a few pages on the thread.


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I thought you should skin your game ASAP, not leave it skin on for days?


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[VANDAL]

Well I got nothing for a photo of the buck, just too dark and windy.

This hunt is like the Dallas Cowboys season...lots of hype, started off hot, and struggling to finish off the season. But there is still hope!

Thanks everyone for following along. I’ve really enjoyed all your posts and feedback.






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[d3ntalbliss]

I thought you should skin your game ASAP, not leave it skin on for days?


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In cold weather it's not really an issue. Meat cools down plenty quick and hide actually can help to keep meat clean.

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[robby denning]

I thought you should skin your game ASAP, not leave it skin on for days?


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Hi. That was 12 days ago and skins still on. Have kept him between 20 and 35 degrees the whole time, as measured by internal meat thermometer I’m skinning him tomorrow but will let him age another 12 or so days. I’ve gone as long as 28 days. Makes for good meat.

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[robby denning]

Well I got nothing for a photo of the buck, just too dark and windy.

This hunt is like the Dallas Cowboys season...lots of hype, started off hot, and struggling to finish off the season. But there is still hope!

Thanks everyone for following along. I’ve really enjoyed all your posts and feedback.

View attachment 138042




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Looks pretty good to me. Especially considering that country’s genetics.


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[BRTreedogs]

@robby denning aka #the1truelegend. Ya know if you just kill elk there good to eat.
None of that ancient Chinese magic aging them.

 

[robby denning]

@robby denning aka #the1truelegend. Ya know if you just kill elk there good to eat.
None of that ancient Chinese magic aging them.

Haha! I’ve aged elk my friends and family shot and it works on them too. #thelegendisover


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[robby denning]

Ok Roksliders, with the thread going quiet today, I’ll post up my prep/aging process on bucks to make them tender and tasty as possible. If you missed it, I did the whole process on The Deer Aging Thread for last years buck at this link https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/the-deer-aging-thread.117002/

Not everyone’s going to agree, I know I’m insulting someone’s grandpa and the way he did it, (I insulted mine too)!but all I can say is if you keep an open mind and give it a shot, you might find that your venison tastes better, with a lot less “gamey” flavor, and more tender.

It’s not my method, as the other thread said, I learned it from the chef John McGannon. His method is over there on that thread and his website is Wildeats.com. He is not a Rokslide sponsor, but I like the way my venison has turned out since converting to this method about 11 years ago. And now I’ve got some former venison haters (including my mom and mom-in-law) asking when I’m cooking deer again, so I know it works.

If you haven’t tried it, no need to plug up the thread with how much better your method is. You can start another thread if you want to do that, no problem.

I used to age my venison about a week, and it was good, to me. But too many people around me were saying it was still too tough and gamey. I think venison is good even if you eat it fresh, but if you want to make it better, give it a try

So I shot my buck on November 25, it’s now December 7 (don’t forget Pearl Harbor) so he’s aged about 12 days. I could’ve taken the hide off, but we were busy hunting and then when I got home I had to go right to work. Leaving the hide on will actually prevent some of the crust from forming so thick, but if I remember right, the chef says go ahead and skin it right away. I’ve done both, and can’t really say I’ve noticed a lot of difference. The buck had an internal meat thermometer in him as soon as I got him home. He was frozen solid, so really he has not aged the entire 12 days, probably about eight by my estimation. And he’s far from done, I’ll probably go about 20 to 28 days total with him.

But there are some cuts on the deer that don’t need as long of aging, like the back straps. So I usually cut those out about now and get them packaged up.

The dry aging process does cost you some meat, and is where it draws its critics. You will lose about a quarter inch of me around the edges by dry aging properly. In my estimation, a lot of people lose some of that anyways to dirt and hair and some of the fascia tissue that can’t be eaten anyways. So be warned that your yields will be a little bit lower using this method. Luckily I got these two bucks out whole, which really helps increase yields as you don’t lose so much to the drying process.

I kept my garage under 40 degrees, keeping the meat according to the internal meat thermometer 33-40 degrees, the only acceptable range for proper aging.

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[robby denning]

The buck on the left, the one I’m working on, is mine. The one on the right is Cash’s. His only aged seven days now, but since it’s Saturday and I have time I’ll go ahead and skin it too.

Hoping the capes are still good, as I can trade them for European mounts. But my taxidermist is doubtful because I didn’t get the skins right off. But we were busy hunting that week and like I said, when I got home I had to go right to work. I’ll let you know if they’re OK. It’s not that they spoil per se, but the aging process starts to break down the tissue as it supposed to, and he’s afraid that will allow the hair to slip, especially on mine. I’m sure Cash’s is fine. He forgets that I’ve brought him several hides that were over a week old before, and as long as they had been kept under 40°, he never reported any hair slipping. He just does so many that he can’t remember individual ones. And by the way, he’s very skeptical of my aging process so he takes jabs at it every chance he gets. But I’m used to that.


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[robby denning]

When I shot my buck, Corey and I were looking at the bullet hole and it looked like I hit him really far back, and I did. But with the way he was standing when I shot him I still caught the back of his lungs. The arrow shows where the bullet went through from left to right side. Surprises me how far back you can hit them and still get lungs. Not saying I recommend that, but there is a little room for error.

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[VANDAL]

When I shot my buck, Corey and I were looking at the bullet hole and it looked like I hit him really far back, and I did. But with the way he was standing when I shot him I still caught the back of his lungs. The arrow shows where the bullet went through from left to right side. Surprises me how far back you can hit them and still get lungs. Not saying I recommend that, but there is a little room for error.

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Robby- what kind of body fat is on those deer? I know the buck I shot 2 yrs ago had none. I was shocked how lean he was and how much weight he’d lost from the rut.



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[robby denning]

Robby- what kind of body fat is on those deer? I know the buck I shot 2 yrs ago had none. I was shocked how lean he was and how much weight he’d lost from the rut.



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Not hardly any at all. You can almost see through the fat on his back. As you know if this was a September buck, that would be 3/4 to an inch thick

Cash’s had almost none, but he appears to be at a younger buck by a few years

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[robby denning]

OK got them all skinned out taking the capes to the taxi to trade for some euros.

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[robby denning]

I pulled the front teeth so I can send them to the lab for cementum analysis. The teeth are hardly distinguishable between bucks. Mine on left, Cash’s on right

But the tracks are.

The one on left is mine, right is Cash’s, both front tracks. If you look close, his buck (which I’m assuming is at least 1 year younger) actually has a longer and slightly more pointed track. Older bucks usually have blockier tracks. So we’ll see what the lab says when I get the teeth back if I was right.
It’s even more noticeable from side view

We got a little tracking snow so I printed them side by side. It will take a pretty good tracker to notice, and I have the unfair advantage of having the hooves in my hands, but I can tell my buck leaves a blockier track than Cash’s.

Now all this could go out the window when the lab results come back. That’s why I lab age them, so I can put all these pieces of the puzzle together for my next hunt.
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[Mac7]

Good stuff. Congrats to Robby and Cash. Good luck to Vandal.

 

[robby denning]

Good stuff. Congrats to Robby and Cash. Good luck to Vandal.

Thanks Mac

OK guys and here is one more point of reference in identifying older bucks from younger bucks.

My buck is on the right and if you look closely you can see he’s got more of a rounded nose. Where his dark brow hair ends, it’s almost a noticeable drop from a straight line. Where on Cash’s, on the left, you can see it’s a very straight line basically from his brow to the tip of his nose. That’s usually indicated of the younger back.


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[Michael54]

We age all of our meat for a minimum of a week. We skin and then saw in half down the spine and through the sternum, hose them down good, and then onto the meat hook in the meat locker. We do a minimum of 7 days and try for 14. The only time we butcher before the 14 days is if we need to free up the meathook

 

[robby denning]

We age all of our meat for a minimum of a week. We skin and then saw in half down the spine and through the sternum, hose them down good, and then onto the meat hook in the meat locker. We do a minimum of 7 days and try for 14. The only time we butcher before the 14 days is if we need to free up the meathook

And I’ll bet you get some really good meat. Sure wish I had a walk in cooler that was temperature controlled.


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[Michael54]

And I’ll bet you get some really good meat. Sure wish I had a walk in cooler that was temperature controlled.


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We do and it was super simple. We just framed a room in a corner of the garage, insulated it heavy with foam board, and cut a tight opening for an air conditioner with a cool bot, and put a steel insulated door on it. Almost all of the materials were salvaged except the cool bot

 

[robby denning]

We do and it was super simple. We just framed a room in a corner of the garage, insulated it heavy with foam board, and cut a tight opening for an air conditioner with a cool bot, and put a steel insulated door on it. Almost all of the materials were salvaged except the cool bot

What is a cool bot?


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